I don’t often read books that are trending at the moment because in the past, they’ve rarely worked for me but for some odd reason I decided to give Whale a shot. Whale by Cheon Myeong-Kwan is essentially a story of Geumbok and her daughter Chunhui. I’ve read stories about dysfunctional mother daughter relationships in the past and although Whale is entirely fictional, nothing tops this. This book is like a whale in the sense of how one feels while reading it. The emotions are not subtle, the characters are not subtle and everything seems massive even the myriad of emotions that it packs.

Whale outlines the history of Korea through brutal transitions. But it focuses on one generation of women who are as odd as they come. First there’s the old crone and her daughter who summons bees, then there’s Geumbok who leads a complicated life and carries a fragrance that lures men and her giant of a daughter who is gentle as an ant. But mostly, this story is about Geumbok, a simple girl who becomes a gangster building many businesses and somewhere along the line forgets her loved ones. Years ago, when she spots a whale in the sea, she is fascinated by this beautiful creature. This whale is later used as an inspiration for the movie theatre she builds decades later.

But what I couldn’t look away was the violence it covered. I don’t think I’ve read as many rape scenarios as much as I have done in this book. And what I couldn’t help but notice was the fact that it all sounded indifferent. Perhaps this was the intended effect the author wanted to convey but it didn’t work for me. Amidst all the fantasy and magic realism, I kept feeling how unnecessary some of the parts were.

Whale didn’t work for me at all and I’m honestly not surprised because magic realism rarely does and combining it with the amount of violence which almost seems too stressed upon didn’t help. I could have not read this book and probably wouldn’t have missed out on anything. But there are also so many of my friends who loved and still recommend this book. So I think it’s just a matter of how one perceives it.

Thanks for the copy @penguinindia x @reader_viddh